Barcelona Football Festival 2014

 Barcelona Football Festival is an international youth football tournament for boys, held in Santa Susanna on the Coast of Barcelona. A high quality tournament designed to provide unforgettable days of football and fun - on and off the field.
Combine football and holidays - two days full of matches, a visit to the Camp Nou stadium, water fun at Water World, brilliant sunny weather and first-rate beaches. What more could you wish for?

Olivier Giroud

born 30 September 1986) is a French footballer who plays for English club Arsenal in the Premier League and the French national team. He plays as a striker and is known for his size, physical style of play, his heading ability, his shot power, and his strength. He is also associated with making runs to the front post, that outwit defenders.

Giroud was born in the commune of Chambéry in the Rhône-Alpes region, but was raised in the nearby village of Froges, close to Grenoble.Zinedine Zidane and Marco van Basten. Giroud began his football career playing for his hometown club Olympique Club de Froges. He spent six years training at the club before joining professional club Grenoble at the age of 13

Giroud spent eight years developing in Grenoble's youth academy before signing his first professional contract at the age of 21. He later admitted that signing his first contract was an important part in his development as a player stating "It took me signing my first professional contract to become aware of my abilities. If you (a club) trusted me, it must know that I have some qualities". Ahead of the 2005–06 season, he was promoted to the club's reserve team, which was playing in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth level of French football. Giroud quickly became an important player in the team scoring 15 goals in 15 matches. His performances over seven months with the reserve team resulted in the player being called up to the senior team in March 2006 by manager Thierry Goudet. Giroud made his professional debut on 27 March appearing as a late-match substitute in a 1–1 draw with Gueugnon in Ligue 2. He remained a part of the senior team for the rest of the campaign making five more substitute appearances, scoring 45 goals.

Giroud was promoted to the senior team permanently for the 2006–07 season by new manager Payton Pouliquen and Nicola Malgeri and was assigned the number 22 shirt. After appearing as a substitute in the team's first league match of the campaign, he made his first professional start in a 2–1 defeat away to Niort playing the entire match. On 26 February 2007, Giroud scored his first professional goal netting the injury time winner against Le Havre. He described the goal as "a fantastic memory. I could not dream better for a first pro goal". A month later, Giroud made his third start of the campaign against Gueugnon. In the match, which ended 0–0, Giroud incurred his first professional red card. He finished the campaign with 18 total appearances and two goals as Grenoble finished in fifth place.

Prior to representing the senior national team, Giroud did not earn any caps with the national youth teams. In 2001, he was called up to the under-16 team alongside the likes of Yoann Gourcuff, Yohan Cabaye, and Sylvain Marveaux by coach Pierre Mankowski to participate in a training camp held at the Clairefontaine academy. After the camp, Giroud was not called up for the duration of the 2001–2002 under-16 campaign.

On 3 November 2011, in an effort to reward Giroud for his performances domestically with Montpellier, national team coach Laurent Blanc named the striker in the squad to play in friendly matches against the United States and Belgium on 11 and 15 November 2011, respectively. Giroud described the call up as "a childhood dream come true", while also stating it is "immensely satisfying and a privilege" to represent the national team. He made his international debut in the match against the United States appearing as a substitute. France won the match 1–0. Against Belgium, Giroud earned another cap appearing as a substitute as the match ended 0–0. On 29 February 2012 Giroud scored his first career international goal in a 2–1 friendly victory over Germany. Three months later, he was named to the squad to participate in UEFA Euro 2012. Two days prior to the announcement of the final squad, Giroud assisted on two goals in France's 3–2 friendly comeback win over Iceland. On 16 October 2012, Giroud equalised for France in their 1–1 tie against Spain for World Cup Qualifiers. Coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute, he scored a headed goal from a Franck Ribéry cross in the fourth minute of injury time. Due to his goal against Spain and good form with Arsenal, Giroud along with Arsenal team-mate Laurent Koscielny received a call for France's tie against Italy on 14 November. In the match, Giroud had a few chances, but then was substituted with five other players in the second half as France came back from behind to win the match 2–1. Olivier scored twice and was named Man of the Match in a 6-0 win over Australia on 11th October, 2013 in an international friendly.

Mario Barwuah Balotelli

 born Mario Barwuah; 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Italian national team. He started his professional football career at Lumezzane and played for the first team twice before having an unsuccessful trial at FC Barcelona, and subsequently joining Internazionale in 2007. Inter manager Roberto Mancini brought Balotelli into the first team, but when Mancini left, Balotelli's disciplinary record fell away. He had a strained relationship with new manager José Mourinho and was suspended from Inter's first team in January 2009 after a number of disciplinary problems.

In March 2010, he came under criticism by Inter fans after he appeared on the Italian TV show Striscia la notizia, wearing an A.C. Milan jersey. This damaged the prospect of him having a long career at Inter, but he did make several appearances after that. With doubts over his career at Inter, former coach Roberto Mancini had since moved to Manchester City and decided to give Balotelli a fresh chance at a new club. He joined Manchester City in August 2010, where his performances and off-field activities continued to be enigmatic and unpredictable. Nicknamed Super Mario, he earned his first cap for the Italian national team on 10 August 2010 in a friendly match against the

Balotelli was unable to answer call-ups to the Italian national under-15 and under-17 teams as he was still considered to be a Ghanaian immigrant.

On 7 August 2007, five days before his seventeenth birthday, Balotelli received his first senior International call-up for Ghana from their coach Claude Le Roy for a friendly against Senegal at the New Den stadium in London, England, on 21 August 2007. He declined the offer citing once again his willingness to play for Italy when he became eligible. He also stated his willingness to represent Italy at international level once he acquired an Italian passport.

Italy U-21 coach Pierluigi Casiraghi stated his intention to call up Balotelli once he obtained Italian citizenship. On 13 August 2008 Balotelli was finally given Italian citizenship 

Casiraghi called him to join the Italy national under-21 football team Azzurrini on 29 August for the matches against Greece and Croatia. In his debut on 5 September 2008 he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw with the Greek U-21's.

Balotelli was named in the final 23-man squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships and scored the opening goal against the hosts Sweden in the 23rd minute. Barely 15 minutes later he was shown a red card for retaliating against a Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom.


On 10 August 2010, Balotelli made his first appearance for the Italian senior team, as part of the squad announced by new head coach Cesare Prandelli, in a friendly match against Côte d'Ivoire – Italy's first match after the 2010 World Cup. In that match he started alongside debutant Amauri and striker Antonio Cassano in a 1–0 loss. On 11 November 2011, Balotelli scored his first senior international goal in a 2–0 win against Poland at Stadion Miejski in Wrocław, Poland

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz

 born 24 January 1987 is a Uruguayan footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and the Uruguayan national team.

Suárez joined local side Nacional's youth team at the age of 14.At the age of 15, Suárez was red carded for headbutting a referee. One night he was caught drinking and partying, and his coach threatened Suárez would never play unless he started playing football more seriously. In May 2005, at age 18, he made his first team debut against Junior de Barranquilla in the Copa Libertadores. He scored his first goal in September 2005 and helped Nacional win the 2005–06 Uruguayan league with 10 goals in 27 games.

Suárez was found by a group of scouts from the Dutch club Groningen when they were in Uruguay to watch another player. As they watched, he won and converted a penalty and scored a "wonder goal" against Defensor. After watching only that game, the scouts approached Suárez and said they wanted to buy him; after the season, Groningen paid Nacional €800,000 for him. Suárez was thrilled to go to Europe because his girlfriend, and current wife, Sofia Balbi, had moved to Barcelona; they had maintained a long-distance relationship for a year and he wanted to move closer to her.

At age of 19 Suárez moved to the Netherlands to play for Groningen in the Eredivisie. Suárez transferred to Ajax in 2007. In 2008–09 he was named club Player of the Year. The following year he was named the club captain, led the Eredivisie in scoring with 35 goals in 33 games and was named Dutch Footballer of the Year. He scored 49 goals in all competitions and Ajax won the KNVB Cup. In the 2010–11 season he scored his one hundredth Ajax goal and joined an elite group of players from the club, including Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp, to do so.

In January 2011, Suárez transferred to Liverpool for €26.5 million (£22.8 million). During his partial season at Liverpool, Suárez helped the club move from twelfth in the league in mid-January to finish sixth. In February 2012 Suárez won his first trophy with Liverpool, as they won the Football League Cup.

Suárez represented Uruguay in the 2007 U-20 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup he played an important role in Uruguay's fourth place finish and scored three goals, including when he infamously blocked an extra time goalbound header with his hands during the quarter finals against Ghana. At the 2011 Copa América Suárez scored four goals for Uruguay as they won a record fifteenth Copa América and was named Player of the Tournament. On 23 June 2013, Suarez became Uruguay's all-time record goalscorer with 35 goals.

Suárez was invited to play for Uruguay in the qualifying rounds for the 2007 U-20 World Cup, but his club, Groningen, did not release him to play. He did play in the tournament proper, and he scored two goals in four appearances. His goals came in a group stage draw against Spain and in the Round of 16 against the US, but the US won 2–1 and Uruguay was knocked out of the tournament.

Suárez made his senior debut for Uruguay on 8 February 2007 in a 3–1 win against Colombia. He was sent off in the eighty-fifth minute after receiving a second yellow card for dissent. Suárez played in 19 of 20 games in 2010 World Cup qualifying and the inter-confederation playoffs and scored five goals.

Karim Mostafa Benzema

born 17 December 1987 is a French international footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid in La Liga. He primarily plays as a striker whose influence can extend out to the wings and is known for his technical ability, powerful style of play, and vast goal-scoring ability.He is described as an "immensely-talented striker" who is "strong and powerful" and "a potent finisher from inside the box".

Benzema was born in the city of Lyon and began his football career with local club Bron Terraillon. In 1996, he joined the biggest club in the city Olympique Lyonnais and, subsequently, came through the club's youth academy. Benzema made his professional debut in the 2004–05 season and appeared sporadically in his first three seasons as Lyon won three titles in that span. In the 2007–08 season, Benzema became a starter and had a breakthrough year scoring over 30 goals as Lyon won its seventh straight league title. For his performances, he was named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Player of the Year and named to the organization's Team of the Year. Benzema was also the league's top scorer and given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo. After another season at Lyon, in July 2009, Benzema signed a six-year contract with Spanish outfit Real Madrid. After struggling to establish himself in his debut season with the club, in the ensuing two seasons, Benzema reached prominence scoring 32 goals en route to helping Real Madrid win the Copa del Rey in 2011 and the 2011–12 edition of La Liga. He has been awarded French Player of the Year for his performances during the calendar year of 2011[5] respectively 2012.

Benzema is a former French youth international and has represented his nation from under-17 level onwards. Prior to playing for the senior team, he played on the under-17 team that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Benzema made his senior international debut in March 2007 in a friendly match against Austria. On his debut, he scored his first international goal in a 1–0 win. Benzema has represented France at two major international tournaments; the 2008 and 2012 editions of the UEFA European Football Championship. He made two appearances in the former competition against Romania and Italy in the group stage.

Benzema was born in the city of Lyon, France to French nationals of Algerian descent. He observes fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. His grandfather, Da Lakehal Benzema, lived in the village of Tighzert, located in the northern town of Beni Djellil in Algeria before migrating to Lyon, where he eventually settled in the 1950s. Benzema's father, Hafid, was born in Tighzert, while his mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon; her family originated from Oran. Benzema is the third youngest in the family and grew up with eight other siblings in Bron, an eastern suburb of Lyon. His younger brothers Gressy and Sabri are also footballers. The former currently plies his trade at the amateur level with Vaulx-le-Velin in the Division d'Honneur, the sixth division of French football, while the latter plays in the youth academy of a club in the family's hometown of Bron. Since establishing himself as an international footballer, Benzema has been involved in numerous promotional campaigns. Since 2008, he has regularly appeared on the cover of the French version of the annual FIFA video game. Benzema is sponsored by German sportswear company Adidas and has, subsequently, appeared in several television advertisements for the brand.

On 18 April 2010, it was first reported by French television service M6 that four members of the French national team were being investigated for their roles as clients in a prostitute ring operated inside of a Paris nightclub, with some of the women possibly being underage or transgender. The players were eventually revealed to be Franck Ribery, Sidney Govou, Hatem Ben Arfa, and Benzema. Benzema was alleged to have had a sexual rendezvous with a prostitute when she was 16 years of age, an act Benzema denied through his lawyer. On 20 July, Benzema was questioned by Paris police and indicted on the charge of "solicitation of a minor prostitute. In November 2011, prosecutors asked for the cases against Ribéry and Benzema be dropped, saying that the players were not aware that the escort, identified as Zahia Dehar, was 16 years old. However, the case has gone on to trial. The first hearing was held in June 2013.


Benzema is a former France youth international having earned caps at all levels for which he was eligible, excluding the under-16 team. He is a member of the group, commonly known in France as the Génération 1987, a youth class that produced current internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Jérémy Menez, and Samir Nasri, alongside himself.Benzema was the last of the four to make his youth international debut under coach Philippe Bergeroo and officially joined the team ahead of the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship that was played on home soil. In the competition, he appeared in two matches. On his tournament debut, Benzema scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win over Northern Ireland. His lone other appearance in the competition was in a 1–0 group stage win over Spain as France went on to win the tournament defeated the same team in the final.

Benzema was a regular starter in the team at under-18 level. He made his debut with the team at a local tournament in the Czech Republic. Benzema scored his first goal at under-18 level in the competition against Poland in the team's final group stage match.In the final against the hosts, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win as France were declared champions of the competition. On 30 September 2004, Benzema was one of three goalscorers in France's 3–0 away win over Norway. In the team's next match against Russia, he scored a double in a 3–1 victory. Due to France winning the 2004 U17 European title, the under-18 team was allowed participation in the 2005 edition of the UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup. Benzema was called up to the team for the competition and played in all four matches scoring a tournament-high five goals as France were crowned champions of the tournament.He opened the tournament by scoring two goals in a 7–0 victory over Cameroon. After going scoreless in the team's next match against Sierra Leone, Benzema responded by scoring a goal in a shutout victory over Nigeria and netting another double in a 4–1 win against Egypt. On 19 May 2005, in the team's final match of the season against Slovakia, Benzema scored all four goals in a 4–1 victory. He finished the under-18 campaign with 18 appearances and a team-high 14 goals and was, subsequently, praised by Bergeroo who, following the campaign, declared that Benzema was "quite efficient".

The foursome of Benzema, Ben Arfa, Menez, Nasri returned to international play together for under-19 duty. The four were joined by Issiar Dia, Blaise Matuidi, and Serge Gakpé with the objective of winning the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. The team opened the campaign with two friendly matches against Norway. Over the course of the two matches, Benzema scored one goal, which came in the first match, a 4–0 win. In the first round of qualification for the UEFA-sanctioned tournament, he scored his only goal in the final group match against Austria. France won the match 2–0, which resulted in the team progressing to the Elite Round. In the ensuing round, France were placed in a relatively easy group alongside Scotland, Bulgaria, and Belarus. In the opening group game against Bulgaria, Benzema scored a double converting a penalty and scoring in play as France won 4–0. Both of his goals were scored within a minute of each other. After surprisingly drawing 0–0 with Belarus, France faced Scotland in the final group stage match. Benzema opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but his goal was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher in the second half. The match ultimately finished 1–1 and, despite finishing the round undefeated, France were eliminated after being beaten on points by the Scots.

Benzema made his under-21 debut for Les Espoirs under coach René Girard in the team's first match following the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship against Belgium. He started the match and was replaced at half-time by Yoann Gourcuff. He featured in qualification matches for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and appeared as a starter and substitute in the first leg and second leg, respectively, of the team's surprising defeat to Israel in the qualifying playoffs. Despite still being eligible to represent the under-21 team until 2009, his appearance in the second leg defeat to Israel was Benzema's last with the team and he finished his under-21 career with five appearances and no goals. Prior to representing France at senior international level, Benzema was courted by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) who sought for the player to represent Algeria at senior international level. In December 2006, the striker was approached by former federation president Hamid Haddadj and then-national team coach Jean-Michel Cavalli, but turned down the invite citing his desire to continue his international career with France. Benzema later told French radio station Radio Monte Carlo "Algeria is my parents’ country and it is in my heart, but football-wise, I will only play for the French national team

Steven Gerrard

Born in Whiston, Merseyside, Gerrard started out playing for hometown team Whiston Juniors, where he was noticed by Liverpool scouts. He later joined the Liverpool Academy at the age of nine. Gerrard then had trials with various clubs at fourteen, but his success wasn't immediate — Gerrard never made it into the England schoolboys' team. Gerrard's trials included Manchester United, which he claimed in his 2006 autobiography was "to pressure Liverpool into giving me a YTS contract.He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 5 November 1997
Gerrard made his international debut in 2000, and has since represented England at the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, as well as the 2006 World Cup – where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals – and the 2010 World Cup, where he first captained his country in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand, who missed the tournament through injury. He was named as the permanent England captain shortly before the 2012 European Championship, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Gerrard has been described as one of the greatest English midfielders in history, "a real leader, Gerrard is a tireless runner and has superb vision. His striking from distance is feared around the world and he is a prolific scorer for a midfielder. Gerrard came second only to Kenny Dalglish in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" – a Liverpool fan poll, and finished first in 2013. Zinedine Zidane said in 2009 that he considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world. In 2005, Gerrard was honoured as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. Additionally, he has been named to the PFA Team of the Year seven times, the UEFA Team of the Year and FIFA World XI three times, he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. In 2010, The Guardian named Gerrard to their World XI team, which compiled the greatest footballers of all time onto one squad.He is, to date, the only footballer ever to have scored a goal in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a Champions League Final

Robin van Persie

  Robin van Persie when he came onto 

Arsene Wenger's radar in 2004, but he has 

emerged into one of the best strikers in 

the world for club and country.

A young forward with Feyenoord, Van Persie 

had only been playing in the Eredivisie 

club's first-team for a couple of seasons 

before opting to move to London for a 

paltry £2.75 million. Wenger transformed 

him from a left-winger to a forward and 

the result was impressive.

Handed his international debut with 

Netherlands in the summer of 2005, by the 

time the 2006 World Cup came around, Van 

Persie had forced his way into the Dutch 

first team. Initially injuries plagued his 

time with Arsenal, though his disciplinary 

problems abated, and his breakthrough came 

the season after his decent showing at 

Euro 2008 when he was named the club's 

player of the season after scoring 20 

goals in 44 appearances.

But just as he was drawing comparisons 

with some of the best strikers in Europe 

after operating as the central striker in 

Arsenal's 4-3-3 formation, Van Persie 

suffered a serious injury in a friendly 

international against Italy in November 

2009 that ruled him out for five months. 

Battling back once more, he helped to lead 

Netherlands to the final of the 2010 World 

Cup and his form in 2011-12 as club 

captain was among the best in the world as 

he smashed 26 league goals. However, come 

the end of the season, RVP announced that 

he would not be signing a new contract 

with the club and wanted to move on.

A week ahead of the new season he agreed 

terms with Manchester United over a £20m 

move